


Fallow - A Mass Effect Interpretation

by IpsumAdVeritas



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:23:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IpsumAdVeritas/pseuds/IpsumAdVeritas
Summary: This is the tale of the last harvest, the broken cycle. This is the story of the SSV Normandy, and the men and women who struck the first blow in the Reaper War. This is the tale of Alexander Shepard: Spy, Soldier, SpecTRe. A Mass Effect retelling with a focus on dropped plot elements and untapped potential.





	1. Mindoir Echoes

 

Here follows the story of Commander Alexander Shepard, Alliance Marine, First human SpecTRe, Hero of the Citadel.

** Mass Effect **

  1. I)  **Origins** [Colonist, War Hero. Class: Adept]



The XO’s bunk on the SSV _Normandy_ had yet to acquire that subtle bowing from use and abuse. An unconscious reminder of the newness of the post, the command, officer uncomfortably asleep in it. Lieutenant Commander Alexander Shepard rolled over in his sleep, his body reacting to invisible stimuli, unconscious mind dreaming of a terrible day 17 years ago.

The vast grey fields of Mindoir opened up before him, the too-clear dream colors making the grasses striking. There was a separation, a dissociation, though, as Shepard watched a much younger version of himself laugh a clear, proud laugh at the feat of biotics. He was holding a massive stone in the air, a shimmering blue corona licking the edges of the dark rock. The young asari next to him – only visiting, her mother in talks with her father about training for young Alexander – laughs in pleasure, sharing his accomplishment.

 "You're getting it! Now try this!" her smooth blue face grew serious for a moment, and she flicked her hand outward. A small dark orb poppeds into existence, uprooting and destroying weeds around it as they swirled into the tiny accretion disk. The outer edges had picked up two very surprised gerra pups, who gave an odd, snuffling wail. The children laugh at the alarmed squeals the small rodents made, and the small asari gestured proudly toward her creation.  
  
"Bet you can't do that!"

  
"Can too!" Young Alexander concentrated, and flicked his wrist the way the asari did. A shimmering blue field appeared, briefly, then was snuffed out. Frustrated, Alexander tried again, this time managing to pick up a wad of dirt, but nothing else. His companion smiled and tried to teach him, guiding his arm, but he shook her off.

"I can do this Nala!" There were six more impotent puffs of biotic energy before he let Nala take pity on him. She launched into an explanation, only a little bit too pleased at Alexander's contrite face. She began showing him the mnemonic, and more importantly, explaining how to _think_ about the energy called upon. She let Alexander try a few more times, (with varying levels of failure) enjoying her role as teacher.

Nala stopped, her face shadowed, as a shuttle, flying low and fast blocked out the sun. Dread welled in Alexander's heart. It isn't a familiar ship. Its sides were painted with strange characters, and it had far too many guns. The wind picked up near them as the ship slowed, and gave a hiss – audible even at distance – as it started its landing sequences. The ground rumbled as more flew in recklessly close. They landed haphazardly, on the top of buildings, in the middle of fields. They crushed the buildings the colonists were so proud of, flatten the crops that sustained them. Screams and harsh yells made their way into earshot, and the children turned to stare at each other, horrified.

"We've got to hide!" the young asari took his hand, and started pulling Alexander into the woods that lined the end of the empty field they had been playing in. A crash near them broke the shock that had narrowed his vision to a point. Young Alexander pulled free of Nala's grasp and sprinted off, headed for home. His parents had to be alright. They had to be. Dad would protect them. Alexander glanced behind him, just once, seeing the sun glint off of the tears tracks down Nala's face. Her hands covered her mouth and she looked from the woods to him and back.

"Run, Nala!" he yelled, then turned and sprinted for home.

 

He reached their small pre-fabricated home as his mother, white-faced and terrified, ran down the street screaming his name. They crashed in the street, Alexander swept up in his mother's arms. She sprinted home, and thrust him into the closet, making him swear to be silent no matter what he heard. The door closed, and he was alone. His dad's deep tones soon joined his mother's panicked breathing, and Alexander heard the sound of their gun – a pitiful, ancient sidearm – being cocked from inside the soft darkness of his meager protection. Things quieted for one awful moment, allowing the filtered screams from outside to float through the tense air. Harsh laughter passed by the outside of their home. There came a rough knock – the front door. A crash as it caved in. A single shot, throaty shouts of rage from the invaders, a strangled yell from his father, then a wet thud. He hears his mother whimpering, pleading. There are sounds of furniture crashing, heavy steps getting nearer. The door opens, the light blinding Alexander as a leering Batarian face peers at him cowering in the darkness.

* * *

 

Commander Shepard awoke with a gasp, sweating. He rubbed his eyes harder than was strictly necessary, still hearing the sobbing breaths of his mother grow fainter and fainter. The Normandy's XO office is dark, still several hours until 1st shift. Shepard stared into the darkness, trying to master the unruly memories that always came with this day.

Deciding to rob his ghosts of both the darkness and his attention, the Commander exited the small room to grab the swill they called coffee in the mess. He sat at the single table, finishing the mandatory reading for their prototype ship and newly minted crew. Several coffees later, the 3rd shift began filtering back to their bunks, while the still bleary-eyed 1st shift began filing into the mess, grabbing the food dispensed by the surly machine that served as cook. They ate what passed for their breakfast, glancing about occasionally. They had yet to settle in, having only left Arcturus yesterday. Shepard grabbed his allotted double portion, to satiate his biotic metabolism. He glumly moved it about, and switched to back to his reading – reviewing the suggested standard operating procedures, and reviewing his notes on turian language and customs provided by the Alliance.

“Commander, we’re approaching the rendez-vous point. Council vessel _Necess Gladian_ is hailing us.” Flight Lieutenant Moreau’s voice was professional. Shepard idly wondered how long that would last, having read the man’s personnel file.

“Set preparations for the exchange. Have Fredricks and Jenkins suit up and report to the airlock. Linkage arrangements your discretion.” Shepard said.

“Understood Commander.” Shepard nodded amicably to the crew sitting around him, and left to change into his dress uniform.

He arrived at the airlock as the ships linked. Shepard noted the seamless execution of an otherwise complicated maneuver – a slight bump the only indication they had they were no longer flying alone. The VI droned as the decontamination process began and ended. Captain Anderson walked up, also in his dress blues. He patted Shepard on the shoulder, and settled himself beside his XO, arms crossed. There came a hiss, and the interior door of the Normandy swung open, with the accompanying mist that was a residual effect of the decontamination. Three turian forms stalked onto the ship, tall and wary. There was a curious synergy, however; their angular forms seeming at home among the curves of the _Normandy_. Two were dressed in standard armor, the black with grey strips along the shoulders and across the chest, Phaeston rifles clutched in their hands.

The lead turian seemed not so much to walk as to stalk in, his movements languid and graceful. He had what amounted to half an armory on his back, his armor unlike anything Shepard had seen. Captain Anderson stepped forward to make the formal greetings, and Shepard found himself snapping to attention with the marines. He drew his sword and gave a full salute as the turian party formally boarded. The lead turian’s eyes never left him.

“… And this is my XO, Commander Shepard.” Anderson finished. Shepard nodded. The turian – Nihlus, he’d said – didn’t react. He finally spoke.

“I expect we will get to know one another well, Commander.” Shepard nodded.

“I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about the Normandy.” Shepard motioned down the CIC. “For now, Fredrickson can show you and your men to their berths.” Nihlus turned and gave a flick of his head to the soldiers, who saluted and retreated from the airlock.

“They won’t be accompanying me. Lead on.” Shepard nodded. He was curious, but knew better than to show it during formal proceedings. Fredrickson saluted, and shipped his weapon, putting on the mag-lock on his back.

“We’ll have a formal briefing at 1100 hours. Explore the ship at your leisure, SpecTRe Kryik. My men have been ordered to assist you in any way you might require.” Anderson said. He nodded respectfully, then left. Nihlus gave one last searching look to Shepard, then followed Fredrickson to his berth.

“You alright Commander?” Jenkins asked as the turian left earshot. “You look a little beat.”

"I never sleep well today.” Shepard said. Jenkins laughed, and the Commander forced a grin.

“There’s always tomorrow, eh?” Jenkins said.

Shepard nodded half-heartedly. “You’re dismissed, Jenkins. Back to normal duties.” Jenkins saluted, and was about to give a sarcastic quip about staring at walls, but the Commander had walked away.

“It’s the anniversary of Mindoir you ass.” Joker said from the cockpit.

Jenkins frowned, surprised. “Oh.” He walked up to join the pilot in the cockpit. “But all colonists think he’s a hero for what he did there.”

Joker glanced at the impressionable marine, wondering how somebody that naive had made it unscathed through boot camp. He softened his tone. “That’s not what he’s going to remember about it. He lost his family there.” 

Joker watched the thoughts connect in Jenkins’ head. He assumed with some bitterness that the man must’ve had ridiculous physical aptitude scores.  

“What exactly happened on Mindoir? All I know is that he killed the Batarians that attacked the colony.”

“Look it up on the extranet if you want details.” Jenkins gave him a look.  
  
Joker was about to give an exasperated retort when Lieutenant Alenko walked up, a mug of coffee in his hands.

“He’s just gonna keep bugging you until you tell him something.”  
  
Jenkins grinned in reply. The LT knew how boring shipboard marine postings could get. Jenkins nodded his thanks. Joker sighed, irritated now.

“Right. Mindoir. Single bloodiest batarian raid on an Alliance colony. Came in, tore down half the buildings, took three quarters of the colonists captive, killed the rest.” Joker let the VI take over flight control, now that they’d disengaged from the _Necess Gladian_ , and pulled up a summary of the event on the haptic interface in front of him. There was a grim picture of smashed buildings and burning rubble at the top of it – the remains of the colony.

“They come and get away mostly clean. Says here that it was likely a fleet.” Joker glanced at the article. “Anyway, after the Alliance finally shows, they do a sweep of nearby systems. Halfway to the relay they found one of the cruisers responsible drifting, all systems functional.” Despite himself, Joker was getting into the story. The marines rapt attention didn’t hurt.

“When they boarded, they found the large majority of the lost colonists still locked in their cages. No batarians in sight. The Commander, only 9 years old, was sitting cross-legged on the bridge, a dozen dead slavers and a biotic singularity behind him."

“ _Bad. Ass.”_ Jenkins mouthed silently, staring at the article the pilot had pulled up. Alenko frowned at the marine.

"He was forced to kill before he'd reached a decade old.” He shook his head. “More than that, he saw first-hand what slavers are capable of. He wouldn't remember being a hero. He’s lucky he came out of it still sane." The lieutenant said. “I know I wouldn’t have.

Jenkins nodded seriously. "It's a good thing he did though. We needed him there on Elysium."

“Yeah, yeah. Now go tell your war-stories someplace else.” Joker shooed them out of the cockpit. Jenkins looked put out, but left. The lieutenant, on the other hand, gave him a sardonic grin, and sat down in the co-pilot’s spot.

“I’m here to oversee shakedown procedures, actually.”

“Well that’s just great.” Joker muttered.

The lieutenant’s evil grin widened. “What was that Flight Lieutenant?”

Joker rolled his eyes, but gave a salute. “Sir, yes sir.”

 

* * *

 

 _Author's note:_   _Previous drafts of the work were written in an outline format, the hierarchy of which is posted below. I'm in the middle of phasing this format out, and it may briefly appear in later chapters._

_(Outline format)_

_I)_

_(1)_

_(a)_

(i)


	2. Eden Assaulted

"Shepard." The turian SpecTRe gave a nod. The Commander kept himself from jumping – Nihlus moved soundlessly, and rounding a corner and seeing a turian face jump out at you was quite a shock.

"How are you finding the ship, Sir?" Shepard asked, polite. It seemed he was running into the man every other hour. If the ship weren't so small, he'd suspect the SpecTRe of following him.

"More than adequate." The turian's unusually intense gaze didn't waver. There was a beat of silence, then he said, "I understand the designs were nearly leaked?"

Shepard nodded. "A cell within the Alliance had penetrated project Tantalus, and were planning on releasing the schematics. We're not sure who to. Likely the Shadow Broker." Shepard smiled. "It was dumb luck I stumbled over their dead-drop."

"Was it?" The SpecTRe's eyes seemed to flicker with brief amusement as he kept Shepard pinned with that penetrating stare of his.

"If I hadn't dropped my credit chit –"

"An amusing story." A smug note had crept into the turian's voice. Shepard briefly wondered how much access alien SpecTRe's had to Alliance Intelligence, but kept with his story, raising his eyebrow quizzically.

"Sir?"

Nihlus' mandibles flickered, and he nodded to the Commander. "We should spar sometime."

"Not sure I'm comfortable with that, sir." Shepard said.

"Really? Your marine complement speaks highly of your hand-to-hand skills. And there was your defense of Elysium…"

Shepard coughed at the last, but grinned. "I try not to beat on anyone above my paygrade sir." He allowed a little friendly challenge into his voice. The SpecTRe gave the turian equivalent of a grin, and nodded.

"See you in the cargo bay."

"I'll inform the good doctor." Shepard said wryly. Nihlus' mandibles flickered again, and he stalked off, still noiseless.

After his shift was over, Shepard marched down to the cargo bay, only to find half the off-duty marines and some of the on-duty ones crowding around the mats that had been set down for the sparring. Nihlus was there, looking oddly incomplete with only workout gear on. He was unperturbed by the jocular jostling of the marines around him, and seemed to ignore the pointed looks of hostility on some of their faces. Shepard stretched quickly, and stepped in the ring.

"What are the rules, sir?" he asked.

Nihlus cocked his head to the side, still studying Shepard. "No biotics. No dirty hits. No claws." He said.

Shepard grinned. "I can tie one hand behind your back, if you'd like." Despite his taunt earlier, he had no illusions how this would go – the SpecTRe had a decade of experience on him, and had made his way up the Hierarchy by his prowess in battle alone. Shepard…. had not. But the chance to learn from one of the Galaxy's greatest warriors was not something that he would pass up.

Nihlus smiled, his mandibles pulling closer to his face. "That won't be necessary." He snapped to attention, and put his hands into a ready stance from one of the Hierarchy's martial arts forms. Shepard bowed, and raised his hands lightly, keeping on the balls of his feet. The marines started cheering. Shepard swore he heard Chakwas' disapproving tut even over the marines. The good doctor certainly didn't lack for spunk.

They circled the mat twice, probing. Then Nihlus charged, throwing his shoulder forward. Shepard moved obliquely, allowing the blow to glance off of his chest. It hurt like hell, but allowed him to get behind the turian. He kicked out, aiming for the high joint in the turian's leg. Nihlus had already moved, swinging around in a spinning kick that Shepard only dodged from the momentum of his own kick. Shepard grunted, and bulled into Nihlus as he was coming down. They smashed together on the floor, mats blunting the impact. Shepard moved to put Nihlus in a joint lock, but the turian had twisted with a slipperiness that belied his plated features, arching around and reversing the hold onto Shepard, who had to roll out of it. He came to his feet quickly, only to be slammed by a vicious uppercut. Fine flecks of light danced across his vision as his consciousness vibrated from the impact. He ignored it, giving a sweep kick that painfully slammed his shins into the turian's knees. Nihlus stumbled, and Shepard put two quick punches into him – one to the chest, his fist making an odd sound as it hit the leathery plated skin, and one to the face, his knuckles splitting as they hit the mandible.

The marines cheered, and money changed hands. Nihlus grinned at Shepard as he backed away, from both adrenaline and amusement. He launched into a spinning kick. As he hit the air, Shepard lunged forward, throwing the turian off balance, forcing him to come down early. He came down on Shepard's leg, causing it to twist oddly. Shepard grunted and fell, rolling backwards and away. He came to his feet, and got an elbow in the gut.

Winded, he barely parried the next three blows, and threw a quick combo at Nihlus, who blocked them all, grabbed his elbow, and spun. Shepard yelped as he flew over the tall SpecTRe, and was winded a second time as he hit the mat, hard. He tried to roll out of the way, but Nihlus was on top of him in half a second, his forearm pressed lightly on Shepard's throat.

"Dead." He said lightly, the inflection still amused. The turian stood, and then offered a hand to Shepard, who gladly took it, levering himself up.

"You're a hell of a fighter, sir." Shepard said, grinning at his opponent, adrenaline still thundering through him.

"Yes." Nihlus said, the amused lilt still there.

"Would you mind teaching me a few things?"

Nihlus tilted his head. "That depends on how the next few rounds go." Shepard grinned fiercely in reply, and put his hands back up.

The next 6 rounds all ended similarly, but each one lasted longer than the last. Shepard was learning about his opponent. Mid-way through the 3rd round, he'd realized, after making a mistake that Nihlus failed to take advantage of, that the turian was  _testing_ him. Not exploiting certain things to show the breadth of Shepard's skills, using less direct and pragmatic approaches to force the fight in interesting directions. Shepard complied, throwing in all of the training he'd had – lessons from his time in with the asari commandos, his drill instructors in the Alliance, a few tricks he'd learned before Elysium, and some he'd learned from the turian observers during the  _Normandy_ 's long stretch in dry-dock. When he started doing this, he sensed some sort of… approval from the SpecTRe.

As the last match ended - Shepard bouncing off of the mat, and Nihlus slamming his knee hard onto the space next to his head, the remaining marines whooping – Nihlus dusted himself off, and said,

"Not bad." He gave Shepard a searching gaze again, "You are free at 2000 GST." It wasn't a question. "Report here. I'll teach you."

Shepard rose, groaning slightly. "it would be an honor, sir." Nihlus nodded, and walked off, not even having the courtesy to look fatigued. He nodded to Captain Anderson as he came down to the cargo bay, the Captain's face a masked with slight disappointment. Shepard knew him well enough to know that he was hiding his amusement. The Captain had been a marine once himself, after all.

"Clear up, everyone. We're commencing secondary shakedown procedures in half an hour. The marine's hurriedly saluted and rushed off, doing their best to look busy. Anderson folded his arms as the men filed out. Shepard approached, toweling himself off.

"Good work, Shepard." He gave a wistful, and maybe slightly bitter look at the mats and the ring around it. "Would have liked a chance in the ring myself."

Shepard grinned. "The, ah, 'weight of command' wouldn't make that difficult, sir?" he said, pointedly looking at Anderson's midriff.

Anderson raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Watch it soldier. I could still take you any day of the week." Anderson's smile turned wolflike. "After all, they baby the N7's these days."

Shepard rolled his shoulders. He'd be quite stiff tomorrow. "Ach, low blow sir."

"Never fight fair, soldier." Anderson said, repeating a line drilled into every N7's head. Shepard laughed, and turned to head toward the showers.

"Shepard." Anderson said, formality returning to his voice. "Report to the briefing room at 2200 ships time. You'll receive a formal briefing on everything then."

Shepard cocked his head slightly, and nodded. "Yes sir."

* * *

At 2200 GST sharp, Shepard reported into the communications room, showered and sore all over from the intense training he'd received. He'd expected the focus to be on close quarter combat, but the ineffable turian had other things in mind, and the lessons had ranged from CQB to tricks and programs he could use on his omni-tool to augment his biotic and normal ordnance. Shepard had a knack for thinking obliquely, courtesy of his rather… varied upbringing and career, and he'd managed to surprise the SpecTRe a few times, a feat he was proud of.

As he walked into the Comm room, he encountered Nihlus, his arms folded and staring expectantly, and Anderson, who was in a similar pose. Shepard's training told him they'd been discussing something as he came in. From the way they stopped, he assumed he was the subject of their conversation.

"Commander, it's time I told you the real reason you were given a position on the Normandy."

"Yes sir." Shepard said, keeping his grin under control.

"You probably have been wondering why the initial turian delegation was replaced by Nihlus here."

"Yes sir." Shepard's grin widened.

"This isn't just a shakedown run, you see." Anderson began pacing. "The human Alliance has been expanding its influence in galactic politics. We're becoming a force to be recognized, respected. It's no secret that we're hoping for a seat on the Citadel Council."

"Yes sir."

"As a part of that, the council races need to know we can pull our own weight, and understand the tides of galactic currents well enough to govern well. As a part of this – "Anderson stopped pacing, and seemed to just now notice the massive grin that his XO was poorly concealing.

"You already know, don't you?"

"Yes sir." Shepard said, grin splitting his face.

Anderson sighed and rubbed his hand across his face. Nihlus's mandibles flickered, a sign of deep amusement for the stoic turian.

"Where'd you get the information this time?"

"Let's just say I trained under the one who wrote the OpSec rules." Shepard said, enjoying giving his marine mentor a good ribbing.

"Yes. You're training to be the next Human SpecTRe. It's an honor, first of your kind, etc. etc." Anderson said, a tired grin on his face courtesy of his irrepressible XO.

"I assume you know about the beacon then?" Anderson asked.

"Yes sir. The politics make sense too sir." Shepard nodded. Anderson and Nihlus both turned their heads slightly, impressed. Anderson made a tired motion with his hands.

"Yes, well, we share what we learn and then we might have the economy and information to actually implement it."

"You are getting a better trade than the Hierarchy did." Nihlus said quietly. The two alliance officers gave the SpecTRe a long, surprised look, but he didn't deign to elaborate.

"How will the testing begin, Sir?" Shepard said after a long silence.

"You will report to me at 0600 each morning, and we will train and test you until 2000 each evening." Nihlus said, a small glint in his eyes, daring Shepard to complain.

"Navigator Pressly has been briefed on XO duties and will be assuming your position on the Normandy after your promotion." Anderson said crisply.

"Hm. Thought he was overqualified for his position." Shepard said easily.

"As are you, Commander." Nihlus said. Shepard tilted his head slightly, acknowledging his, ah, service record.

Nihlus, apparently finished with the conversation, left the room without further comment. As Shepard and Anderson made their way up, Shepard grinned,

"And sir? You might want to give Yeoman Djana a crash course on operational security." Anderson sighed again, and gave Shepard a pat on the back, that was just slightly too hard. Shepard grinned, saluted, and left.

* * *

 

Nihlus' training proved to be every bit as challenging as his testing, and Shepard collapsed each day, exhaustion burning through him. The training went beyond physical – a SpecTRe was expected to be a one-man army, a one-man intelligence service, and a one-man judge, jury, and executioner. Shepard had shown aptitude for the first two, from his service record, but the third required an extensive grounding in galactic law and treaties, as well as a myriad of situations that a SpecTRe might be expected to encounter, up to and including the SpecTRe force's right to depose the Citadel Council if necessary.

Nihlus himself remained stoic, though Shepard was beginning to see small little gestures of approval, and a week later, of fondness. His sense of humor was so dry as to be nonexistent, but Shepard was learning more and more how to get a rise out of him. The workload never lightened, however.

As the shakedown procedures came to a close, the  _Normandy_ making its way through wargames and simulations above all expectations, Nihlus began talking of the future. Eden Prime would be their first mission – a quick run-through of the standard operating procedure so that Nihlus could diagnose what would need to change, if anything, in Shepard's tactical thinking and planning. They'd already been through simulation after simulation – most of which involved Shepard having to deal with being overwhelmingly outnumbered and outgunned. Nihlus had refused to tell him if he'd done well or not, only laid out consequences.

"You never know. Not really. But in everything you do you must act with supreme authority, and with the confidence that your decisions are correct. If you cannot do so, you are not fit to be a SpecTRe." Was all he'd said when Shepard had asked.

* * *

While the Normandy made its way through the Arcturus Relay, Shepard found himself enjoying one of his moments off, merely admiring the smooth efficiency of the  _Normandy_ crew as they completed their actions with a studied professionalism and poise – no doubt inspired by the brevetted XO, Pressly.

"…Drift: just under 1500k." Joker finished, relaying the commands through his mic to the cadre of navigators.

"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." Nihlus said from beside them, a rare glint of respect in his eyes as he glanced at the pilot. Joker looked less than pleased, and Shepard realized he was the only one present with enough experience in turian body language to recognize it. As Nihlus trudged off – still managing to move silently in a hardsuit across a metal floor. Joker grumbled.

"Hardass."

"He gave you a compliment, and so you're insulting him?" Lieutentant Alenko said from the co-pilot's chair. The LT had been put in charge of 'supervising' the mouthy pilot, mainly because he had the patience of a saint and a sense of humor dry enough to overmatch Moreau's sarcastic jibes at anything that moved.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. That's incredible. Besides, SpecTRes are trouble. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid. It was a joint operation to build this ship, the first of its kind. The council will want to keep an eye on their investment."

Shepard smiled to himself, realizing that the bantering soldiers hadn't noticed he was behind them.

"Besides, the SpecTRes always have the newest toys. I expect Nihlus will want one for his own purposes." Alenko continued, looking back down at the diagnostics he was running post-relay.

"That's what I'm worried about. The  _Normandy_ 's a lady, but you've got to know how to treat her right." Moreau patted the side of his interface fondly. "I don't want some turian with a stick up his ass trying to hold the line with a freaking stealth frigate."

Shepard shifted slightly, and Alenko looked up at the noise. He nodded at Shepard.  _This one's observant. Good._  The commander thought to himself.

"I wouldn't worry about that Flight Lieutenant." Shepard said. The pilot jumped, and Alenko grinned.

"Oh hey, commander, didn't see you there." Joker said warily.

"She's an Alliance bird, Moreau. She'll stay that way." Shepard grinned at the mouthy pilot. "Nihlus would have to pry her from Mikhailovich's cold dead hands."

Moreau grunted. "Being as he's a SpecTRe, that doesn't comfort me much."

"But think of the paperwork involved." Alenko said dryly, and Joker winced.

"Point." His hands moved in familiar motions across the haptic display, when there was a urgent beep, and a red flagged item appeared on both Moreau's and Alenko's displays. Both of them looked up in alarm, and Joker's hands flew to automatic points, sending it up the command structure. Shepard's omni-tool beeped, and a fraction of a second later, Pressly's crisp voice echoed over the comm.

"All hands to general quarters. Hostiles reported on Eden Prime."

Shepard swore, then dashed off toward the galaxy map. He didn't notice, but after his time training with Nihlus, his hurried steps barely made a sound.

* * *

"Reverse and hold at 38.5."

The staticky image showed odd, bipedal synthetics with strange weapons descending in ranks from their curved ships, marching callously over the dead and dying marines on the ground. Silence reigned in the conn, as the techs and command all let the shock wash over them.

"Geth." Nihlus said, with a curiously final nonchalance. Anderson nodded slowly, his mind racing over plans, contingencies, colonial evacuation policies.

"Sir, sensors indicate the Geth have made inroads into new Geneva and are establishing a perimeter around the dig site." The sensor tech, Addison Chase, reported crisply, the instilled professionalism only wavering slightly in the face of such an unprecedented and horrific situation. Anderson strode up to the galaxy map, his omni-tool flaring and highlighting something in front of him.

"Spy satellites report the advance on New Geneva and farming communities is a holding action." Dubyansky said from the monitor across from Shepard.

"Why spend the men and materiel…" Anderson muttered to himself as he panned over the data he'd presumably received.

"Our priority is the beacon." Nihlus said, the subharmonics giving an unexpected edge to the statement. Anderson gave him a look, his eyes hard, and pulled up schematics for the beacon they'd been tasked to receive.

"You've my permission to task up to ten marines and form a strike force to retrieve the beacon." Anderson said finally. He tapped a few more buttons and came in over the comms "Marine contingent, report to the Kodiak. You'll link up with the 222 in New Geneva and provide some relief forces. Standard support gear and ordnance. Take extra medi-gel."

Anderson issued a few more orders, but Shepard had shifted his attention to Nihlus, who'd motioned to him, Alenko and Jenkins.

"Come." He'd said, and hopped onto the elevator. Jenkins and Alenko saluted crisply, to which Nihlus nodded with respect.

"Prothean beacons are rare things – and usually what is retrieved from them is beyond classified." Nihlus began, as the elevator began the small eternity it took to get to the garage. "It's beyond interspecies competition. The beacons are dangerous, and contact with one unprepared shatters the mind of the recipient." Jenkins looked suitably awed. Alenko nodded crisply, going over his loadout as the SpecTRe talked. "We will be required to move the beacon onto the Normandy for study. Doing so requires shielding we don't have. You will hold the beacon against any and all Geth attempts to seize it, while we wait for an extraction from the  _Normandy_.

"Why just the three of us, sir?" Jenkins asked, sweat beginning to form on his forehead.

"So we have a hope of getting into position at all." Nihlus said. "We'll link up with what's left of your Alliance's garrison at the dig site."

Jenkins nodded his understanding, but did not look reassured. Alenko patted him on the shoulder, and Jenkins nodded, looking slightly less pale.

The elevator opened, and the team got kitted out, slamming on helmets and armor latches, and double checking their standard Alliance-issued weaponry.

"Debark in 5." Joker's voice came over crisp and professional. The Alliance marines turned toward each other, slamming each other's shoulder pads – a pre-mission ritual, and turned to the broadening glow of daylight as the cargo hatch opened. Nihlus strode purposely forward, his tall silhouette casting a long shadow behind him.

"Keep up." Was all he said, as he jumped off the still-lowering cargo ramp.

"Aye aye sir." Shepard replied, and jumped off himself, slowing his descent with his biotics as he rocketed through the blessedly empty sky. Alenko landed soon after, alight with his corona. Jenkins gave a yell as the ground approached, and Shepard caught him with a gentle lift field, slowing the marine's descent. His eyes were wide, but he grinned at Shepard.

"That was awesome!" Shepard and Kaidan laughed slightly, but drew their weapons, Kaidan cocking his handgun as Jenkins pulled out his Avenger. Shepard pulled out his shotgun, smiling grimly as the servos whined at the weapon extended.

"You from here, Jenkins?" He asked.

"Aye sir. Grew up about a hundred klicks from here though." He said.

"Care to take point?" Jenkins nodded in reply, raising his rifle to his shoulder, and leading Shepard down the draw.

"Nihlus, do you copy?" Shepard radioed, his HUD showing no sign of friendlies.

"Affirmative. I'm scouting ahead. Dig site is in visual range. Geth have not dug in, though they left a contingent for us."

"Don't kill them all before we get there." Shepard said dryly as his squad advanced down the draw of the hill they were on, moving cautiously through the meager cover provided by the trees. According to the schematics created by the surveillance satellites overhead, there was a clearing up ahead, the natural brush and grasses flattened by the tracked mud of the researchers and their equipment.

Shepard held up a hand as they crouched on the hill. Several Geth had gathered and began methodically placing odd, forked structures into the ground. Could Geth  _not_  do things methodically? Shepard wondered briefly before things developed. 3 scientists and two badly wounded soldiers were marched out into the clearing. Shepard motioned, and Jenkins and Alenko moved around the woods, setting up the Geth to be flanked.

It was then two of the Geth grabbed the wounded soldier and placed her on the stand. The woman had lost half her forearm, and was bleeding from a vicious wound in her side, but fought like mad from being placed on the platform. Shepard was about to give the order to fire when there was an audible click, and a spike shot up from the stand, impaling the brave woman. She gave several feeble gasps, twitched a bit, and fell silent. Alenko gave a look to the Commander. His expression was hidden by his helmet, but Shepard understood the shocked worry in it.

"NO!" Jenkins moved, firing and sliding down the slope, making his form near impossible to hit even as he advanced on the grouped Geth. "NO!  _You bastards!_ " He roared, rolling out of his slide behind a rocky outcropping, and spraying the line of Geth with his rifle. 4 more spines impaled 4 more people in retaliation, the Geth shields holding despite Jenkins' fire. Jenkins roared again, and threw a grenade, destroying the cover the Geth had begun retreating behind.

As soon as Jenkins made his move, Shepard motioned to Kaidan, and the two circled, lining up the Geth. At the right moment, they both heaved with their biotics, their blue corona now attracting fire. The remaining Geth were thrown into each other with a crash, letting out their digitized vocalizations. Jenkins seized the opportunity, and launched another grenade into the dogpile, creating a brief rain of Geth scrap.

In the silence that followed, Shepard strode up to the impressionable marine and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's senseless, cruel, and I don't know why they're doing it to us." Shepard said, his voice stern, but not unkind. "But I need to know that I can count on you to follow orders." He made his visor transparent, giving a piercing look to the young marine, who's eyes were wide and pupils dilated.

"Yes." Jenkins shook his head. "Yes sir."

"Commander!" The LT yelled. Shepard whirled, as the spikes sank back into their platforms. The bodies had decayed a month in the minute they'd been up there, and blue wires now rain the length of their bodies, giving life to the dead flesh. An eerie blue glow came from the synthetic creations that stumbled in their first steps. Shepard swore, and instinctually sent a shockwave toward the nearest grouping. They went flying the remains of their flesh splitting and tearing from the shearing forces. Kaidan sent his own flare at the monsters, throwing two into the hard stones on the hillside. The last two advanced, a glowing blue electrical light gathering around them. Shepard put two blasts into them with his shotgun, the gun chewing into their desiccated bodies. They fell at his and Jenkins' feet.

There was a brief moment of silence, and Shepard radioed Nihlus.

"Sir, be advised: the Geth spikes produce hostiles."

"Commander?" Nihlus said, bemused. Shepard could have sworn he'd heard a worried subharmonic, but couldn't be sure.

"The spikes turn casualties into hostiles."

There was an audible click from the other end, and the sound of two precise gunshots.

"I see. Record what you can for the council briefing." Nihlus said.

"Yes sir." Shepard raised his omni-tool, taking scans of the spikes, the casualties, and the Geth present. Kaidan was patting Jenkins on the shoulder and saying something softly to the marine, who nodded. Scans completed, Shepard motioned, and they filed out of the draw, moving into a light jog over the proto-road the researchers and tracked into the hill. They continued like that for several minutes, following the road down into the valley, their HUDs tagging the entrance to the dig site proper as they rounded the corner of the long lush draw.

The squad began sprinting when they heard the tell-tale sound of an Avenger rifle cracking against the eerily quiet afternoon. As they rounded the final corner of the valley, they beheld a single soldier fighting desperately against an entire platoon of Geth troopers. Ducking behind a crate, she lobbed a grenade obliquely, then spun around the corner to line up the Geth into scope as they backed away from the explosive. Three fell to the fire as Shepard's squad sprinted into position, Shepard and Alenko swinging wide to provide a crossfire. As Shepard slid into position, he reached into the gentle tug of the planet's gravity, and flipped it in pull field where the Geth were advancing. The digitized calls of distress echoed up the valley, and Jenkins layed into the floating synthetics, shredding the platforms. He ducked down beside the lone soldier, exchanging words neither Shepard nor Kaidan could hear. Alenko rolled forward, the blue corona of his biotics beginning to form as he did so. The move brought the remaining Geth attention on him, and he smiled as he stood, unleashing his own pull field. Before Jenkins and the soldier could react, he raised his omni-tool, sending a huge burst of electricity at the suspended electronics, who shivered and jerked at the impact. Shepard finished them off with a few blasts of his shotgun, as he advanced up to the rest of his squad.

"Commander Shepard of the SSV  _Normandy_. We're here to secure the beacon."

"Gunnery Chief Williams of the Colonial 212." The soldier said, saluting tiredly, her eye still wide with shock and adrenaline.

"Where's the rest of the 212?" Shepard asked, looking about it.

"You're looking at what's left, sir." Williams said quietly. Alenko and Jenkins gave a sharp intake of breath. Shepard grimaced.

"I'm sorry Chief." Shepard glanced about again, and sighed. "What about the beacon?"

"Geth took it sir. Hooked it up to some sort of generator, and moved it to the tramway not a half-hour ago."

Shepard turned aside, speaking into his radio. "Nihlus, the beacon has been moved from the dig site. We've hooked up with what's left of the 212, and are heading to the tramway in pursuit."

"I copy Shepard." Static crackled over the comms the mic picked up a blast, and the digital scream of a Geth in pain. "Rendez-vous at the tramway in 5."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Nihlus put two more rounds into the still forms of the Geth he'd ambushed, just to be sure. He slid back between the trees, working his way into the flatlands where the tram station had been placed. Leave it to humans to need 4 different methods of transport to accomplish one task. Shepard though – he certainly was efficient, despite his rather  _varied_  service record. He'd make a fine SpecTRe, even beyond the political expedience provided by his upbringing.

Nihlus ducked behind a tree as a Geth patrol cycled past, their incandescent heads giving them away. It was almost too easy to evade them, secure in his ECM suite and simple, old-fashioned stealth. The scrublands would be harder, in the 500 meters it would take to reach the squat forms of the prefabs and the boxy tramway. Time to test a new toy.

Engaging a mode on his suit, the SpecTRe shimmered and disappeared, a tactical cloak woven into his armor activating. He sprinted across the open space, footfalls no more noticeable than a slight gust of wind. He slid into position behind some well-placed research gear. He peered around the corner in the second before the cloak disappeared, and nearly dropped in shock. A turian was standing in front of a Geth platform that was twice as large as the other troopers. Nihlus, without thinking, set his omni-tool to record.

"I don't care where you place the nukes. Just make sure the radiation gets in the jet-stream.  _They_  want life to be impossible on this planet for the next 500 years."

A chill tickled the inside of Nihlus' plates all at once.  _Saren!_ Working with the Geth. Nihlus's mandibles flicked in frustration. What could possibly justify the genocide of everyone living on Eden Prime? What had happened to Saren? Nihlus crouched, indecisive for a moment, then squared his shoulders and marched out into the open, keeping in mind the first lesson Saren had ever taught him.

"Saren Arterius." Nihlus said, letting an uncertain subharmonic into his flanged voice. He saw the way the older SpecTRe stiffened, and turned to face him.

"Nihlus."

"What are you doing here?" Nihlus said, letting the slightest tremble into his voice. Suddenly Saren looked incredibly tired.

"What I am always called to do. That which must be done." Saren turned to face him, though he didn't meet Nihlus' eyes.

"Genocide?" Nihlus let the accusation hang.

Saren snarled and looked directly at his protégé. "If I have to end a million of the apes for the good of the galaxy I will. If I have to eradicate the entire spirits damned species,  _I will._  If the death of a planet means the system will survive, that is the choice I  _must_  make." Saren had taken two steps closer, and looked away, his voice quiet. "If I have to kill one whom I consider a son to complete my mission, I will." He looked up at Nihlus, pleading. "Don't make me."

Nihlus cocked his head, studying his former mentor, a father figure he'd come to respect above all others. He had changed. He looked closer.

"What happened to your eyes?" The rogue SpecTRe's eyes had always been dark and hard, courtesy of a life lived in the long shadow of the law, in the dark spaces of the galaxy. They were different now. His pupils have changed from angular slits to broad hourglasses, limned with a curious coppery glow.

"Another sacrifice." Saren said enigmatically. He stared at his protégé, eyes wary. "Join me Nihlus. Or join the spirits."

" _Spectres are unique among the spirits_."  
  
Nihlus was already moving. He ducked left, avoiding the sweep of the large Geth unit that had snuck up behind him. He went low, attaching a grenade to the thing's leg as he went by. He detonated it as he rolled up beside Saren, whose form had become limned with a blue glow. The big unit let out a synthetic scream as it's chassis blew apart, unheeded by the two turians locked in mortal combat.

" _They are the righteous damned_."  
  
Nihlus said, moving underneath the older SpecTRe's combo of punches, and slamming his electrically charged omni-tool directly into the side of Saren's armor. Saren jerked and leaped back, drawing his specialized hand cannon as he did. Nihlus was already rolling to the side. The bullets like small comets ate into the crates and equipment scattered about, leaving holes a foot in diameter.

" _Without house, home, hearth or heart, they wander_."  
  
Nihlus drew his shotgun, pumping 4 rounds into Saren's cover, and tossing a tech-mine on either side of him. Saren leaped directly over his cover and slammed into the ground near where Nihlus was already rolling away. The shockwave set off the tech mines, and Saren roared as his gear sputtered and died from the mini-EMPs. He launched a throw at Nihlus and clipped him.

" _Justice is their purview._ " Nihlus said from the ground.  
  
His shotgun had been tossed away from the throw, and he lifted his pistol from his side, flipping up to his feet. He caught a biotically assisted punch to his ribs. The armor deflected most of the blow, but the force of it sent him staggering. He ducked under Saren's swiping talon, and slammed his fist into the side of his former mentor's face. The turian's unhelmeted head rocked sideways from the blow. Saren scrabbled, and grabbed Nihlus' arm, throwing him to the ground.

" _Death is their realm._ " Nihlus rose once again, to be hit dead on with a shockwave. His armor shattered and fractured with the force, and he was slammed into a stack of crates sending them tumbling. He stood back up, sliding sideways to miss the warp that ate through the research equipment. He fired three times, preparing his omni-tool as he did. As Saren flew towards him with a flying kick, he ducked underneath and launched a gout of superheated plasma that scored and melted bits of the rogue SpecTRe's armor.

" _The unrighteous flee whither they might_."  
  
Saren stumbled and rolled over onto his back, coughing.

" _But darkness is no refuge in a spectre's night_." Nihlus put two rounds into Saren's leg. Saren roared and convulsed in pain. Nihlus took two steps closer, omni-tool prepared to issue the commands that would lock up Saren's armor and restrain him. Then Saren  _moved_ , twisting, taking out Nihlus' knees, rising up to meet him. The massive pistol tapped Nihlus' armor, and fired, once, twice. Nihlus gasped as half his insides exited out the back of his armor. He stumbled back, hands dropping his pistol and going to the two gory wounds.

" _They know not mercy_." Saren said, picking up where Nihlus left off.

" _They know not fear nor pain._ " He continued, sheathing his pistol, and grasping the younger Turian by the shoulders.

" _They know only justice._ " Saren stared at his dying protégé, his eyes brighter than they would have otherwise been.

" _And woe to him in their way._ " Saren finished, as Nihlus convulsed in his arms. Nihlus snarled one last, incomprehensible sentence and died, falling with a final  _thunk_  onto the metal floor of the tram station.

Saren bowed his head, and jerked as he heard a beeping. He swore and dove, grabbing the bit of explosive stuck to him with his left hand, lifting it to throw, when it exploded.

* * *

"Nihlus!" Shepard yelled as he heard the blast and the tramway came into eyesight. He raced forward, activating his barrier as the multitude of Geth sent a wave of fire his direction. They were carrying something away in a hastily erected stasis field.

His squad ducked behind cover, when Joker radioed them.

"Shit! Commander a dreadnought of unknown origin and make just entered the system going 5 times faster than the speed record." There was some more swearing from the line, and Joker continued: "We're going to go stealth and hide on the dark side of the moon here. No comms until the thing passes."

"Understood." Shepard said, then clutched at the pickups on his helmet as a deafening boom shattered all sound and sense. A huge dark shape blotted out the sun, long fingers of a massive hand extending and stretching miles. There was a second thundering crash, and a shockwave that sent everyone – Geth, Shepard and his squad, the crates, flying. The thing the Geth were carrying remained unmoved, safe in its defiance of gravity and mass.

A single ray of light opened from underneath the massive construction, and the stasis field floated up, along with two platforms. Shepard started to take a stride forward, when a sense-rending shriek exploded from the ship. The humans all bucked and clasped their ears, trying to escape the noise. There was another earth shattering shake, and the ship took off, breaking the sound barrier and casually flying out of the atmosphere.

"What the hell was that?" Williams said shakily, as the humans all got to their feet. Shepard, breathing shakily, shook his head.

"Nothing I've ever seen before."

"Commander!" Jenkins said. He took a breath to steady himself, "I've got a read on the beacon! It's on the other end of this tramway."

"Let's hope the thing still works."

The squad made their way across the tram station, to the open-air cart that had survived the firefights and the dreadnaught's surprise landing. Kaidan checked it over.

"Appears to be in once piece, Commander." Shepard lifted a hand, gesturing onto cart.

"All aboard." He bowed sardonically, the banter the only thing keeping them from falling apart. 

* * *

The tram ride began and ended faster than it ought to have. One minute they were sliding along warily looking through the shattered idyll of Eden Prime, ears still ringing from the dreadnought casually defying physics. After a few jolts from the track being misaligned, the ride was smooth, taking them over a lake sparkling in the afternoon sun. Shepard searched beneath the water as they slid over the suspended rails, deciding to assume nothing about this mission. He'd holstered his shotgun, and had his own Avenger resting beside him, ready if he needed it. Williams had set up a sniper rifle on the forward rail, and was scanning the horizon line, looking for hostiles. Jenkins was doing the same behind them, while Kaidan updated their map, keeping an eye on the beacon they were set to be retrieving.

"Comms chatter is telling me the Geth have retreated from New Geneva and Los Devas." Alenko said, looking up from his omni-tool. "Scanners are shot, so no telling the resistance we'll face –"

"Contact!" Williams shouted. There was an echoing blast, and she twisted slightly, adjusting the scope. Kaidan and Shepard hit the deck, while Jenkins swung his rifle on around, lining up his own shot. There came two more consecutive blasts, and then Williams shipped her rifle.

"That's all the time we can buy you commander. It'll stop them from blasting the tram, but not much else." She unshipped her shotgun. Apparently they were densely packed.

"Jenkins, what do you see?"

"They're going to try and pin us with a crossfire as soon as we pull in, now that they know better than to try to destroy the tram outright." The young man was shaking. He wasn't saying something.

"Tell me everything Jenkins!" Shepard shouted as their tram began braking.

"We're not gonna make it sir."

"The hell we are! I didn't come all this way to give up an die when we're only outnumbered!"

Jenkins nodded. "It's been an honor sir."

Time moved in slow motion as the tram moved into the station. At least 50 Geth had lined up to meet them, some over the walkway above the tram lines, some on the opposite side, some attempting to board. Jenkins saluted to Shepard, then leaped off the tram as it was still moving. He rolled on the platform, and came up, assault rifle shooting controlled bursts, tearing into the Geth shields. Kaidan and Shepard stood, both activating their barriers, and reaching out to disrupt the Geth lines nearest. But Jenkins was already moving, sprinting. He was spraying fire now, not caring about his aim. Nor did he have to – the Geth were so numerous. He staggered as bullets penetrated his shields, but kept moving, pulling something from his belt.

Shepard's eyes widened, and he shoved Williams and Alenko down as the pieces clicked. There came a sharp  _boom,_  as all the grenades Jenkins had left exploded at once, chunking the 10 geth around him. There was a crackle, the smell of ozone, and the sound of 1000 blowtorches activating at once, as Jenkins' last act ruptured the plasma conduit that ran the tram. A massive flare of bright light passed over their eyes, and then the tram was eerily quiet.

Shepard forced them up and out of the cover-less tram car. They dodged a few bullets as the remaining Geth forces scrambled to recover, but they seemed sluggish, less responsive. Williams and Shepard put a few rounds into them with their assault rifles, while Alenko flushed them out of cover. It was over in a few short minutes.

Shepard walked over to where Jenkins lay, his body almost unrecognizable from the burns he'd received. He knelt, placing a gloved hand on his fallen friend, wishing he knew something to say. He heard Kaidan come up behind him.

"His first mission and he's already a hero." Alenko said, his voice unnaturally thick. "Always moving too fast."

Shepard nodded, and opened his omni-tool, the dog-tags implanted in Jenkins receiving and verifying Shepard's signal, which then transmitted to the Normandy.

 _PVT 1_ _st_ _Class Richard Jenkins confirmed KIA_ , his HUD read.

"Commander, are these nukes?" Williams asked suddenly, causing them all to jump, then swear. It turned out they weren't armed. But their presence was chilling enough. Shepard had the Lieutenant disable them while he and Williams advanced to the soft red blip on their maps which marked the presence of the Beacon.

They rounded the corner, and came face to face with an empty geth transport docked to the side of the station. It appeared empty of all life, synthetic or otherwise. Shepard noted the docking clamps control board, and disengaged them, just to see what would happen. Williams gave him a slight grin as he did so, and the Geth drop-ship fell, tumbling, onto the mountainside beneath them. Alenko, who rounded the corner, gave a grim look at the wanton destruction, his disapproval muted by the smile tugging at his lips. Something Jenkins would've thought was  _awesome_. 

"Normandy, we have secured the package. Better yet, there's a loading berth for a shuttle. Sending you coordinates and –"

Shepard looked back, realizing that Williams had approached the beacon. He was about to shout a warning at her, when she was seized by some alien force. His mutant nerves sung as he felt gravity shift, and caught a hint of a green-limned corona about the beacon. He swore, and sprinted forward, throwing the Gunnery Chief out of the way of –

A spike of energy entered his mind, scanning, searching. Shepard briefly felt the gravity reversal, and his feet leaving the ground, when a vision, with desperate energy slammed itself into his mind. He screamed soundlessly, his voice joining a chorus millions strong, and consciousness left him.

* * *

 

"How's he doing Doctor?" Anderson's stared down at Shepard's prone form, his face more lined than usual.

"His brain waves have stabilized, and he seems to have gone into REM sleep. There's a slight irregularity, though." Anderson looked sharply at the doctor.

"Whatever the beacon did to him seems to have lodged in his memory. He's dreaming, but he's dreaming memories." She said.

"His life is flashing before his eyes?" Anderson frowned, and looked back at his unconscious XO.

"His previous psychological traumas probably haven't helped." Chakwas tightened her lips, then shooed the Captain out of the med-bay. "Go on! He won't get better by you standing there fretting!"

* * *

Young Alexander sat with his knees up against his chest, saying and staring at nothing. It had been six months since Mindoir, and still he hadn't said a word. The Alliance, busy with protecting their other colonies, sent the orphans of Mindoir through the system. Those with families went to them. Those without got sent to orphanages based on their psych evaluations and profiles.  
  
And that was why there was muted screaming coming from the room next to him.  
  
There was muffled shouting, the sound of tiny fists pounding impotently against the padded wall, and a slamming door. A harried caretaker emerged, her graying blonde hair having been pulled unevenly from its coif. She ran a hand through it and sighed. She looked around, and started a bit when she saw Alexander sitting in the corner. Smiling, she crouched down next to him.

"Don't mind Dave. He's..." She looked to the side, hearing the dull thumps of Dave pounding the walls. "He's got more anger than his little body knows what to do with." She finished. Her smile was damp, now. "But how about you? Are you ready to talk?" She held out her hands. Tentatively, Alexander put his own in them. He said nothing.

"No?" She gives his hands a little shake, "Well, I'll be here if you decide otherwise." Sliding her thumb over his knuckles, she gives him another sad smile, then slowly picked herself up.

There's a chime, and her right wrist glows orange with the light of her omni-tool. She cocked her head to one side when reading the message, then strode off, towards the front of the orphanage. Alexander let his chin sink back into his knees. Dave stopped pummeling the walls, and the muffled sound of his louder sobs was the only thing that disturbed the quiet.

Quite suddenly, there were 3 pairs of footsteps. 3 creaks from the stressed floorboards in the entry hall. The sound of soft conversation, all female voices. The Caretaker emerged from the hallway with two asari trailing her. One half-grown, holding her mother's hand.

"Alexander? Some friends have come to see you." The caretaker crouched down next to him. The younger asari left her mother's hands and threw her small blue arms around Alexander's crouched form. the caretaker smiled.

"You already know Nalanissa." she said, then stood. "This is her mother, Lyvanis." She smiled as Alexander lowered his arms to accept Nala's embrace. "They want to adopt you."

* * *

"Doctor Chakwas! Doctor Chakwas! I think he's waking up!"


	3. Chasing Council

Shepard came to slowly, Ashley's strident shout driving daggers of pain into his head. He blinked, and fell back into the thin pillow of the medical bed. Why were the pillows always so thin in medical beds? Opening his eyes once more, he stared up into the kindly face of Captain Anderson. He blinked slowly again, and the Captain's face was replaced by Doctor Chakwas' whose face bore a caregiver's confident concern.

"How are you feeling Commander? You had us worried there for a while."

Shepard decided he should sit up and face whatever music was coming. He hoped it was a waltz. He could dance to that. "Ah. Minor throbbing." He turned his head both ways, letting his eyes focus on his surroundings. It took a little longer than it should have. "Nothing serious. How long was I out?"

"About fifteen hours. You  _interacted_  with the beacon somehow."

"That's my fault Commander. I must have triggered some sort of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way." Ashley jumped in to say. Guilt colored her voice, as did an odd sort of relief.

"You had no way of knowing that would happen." Shepard said.

"Actually, we don't even know if that's what set it off." Chakwas interjected.

"-And we won't. The beacon exploded." Anderson said.

"We're not sure if that's what knocked you out, or whatever happened when you got too close." The good doctor said, begging scans on Shepard.

"Alenko and I had to carry you onto the shuttle they sent." Chief Williams said.

"And I'm sure the Commander will get a full debriefing.  _After_  I release him." Doctor Chakwas gave everybody  _a look_. Everybody stepped back, avoiding eye contact.

"What's the damage, Doctor?" Shepard said, intervening before Chakwas tried to give herself some job security.

"Physically? You're fine." The doctor pulled up his chart on her omni-tool, and began inputting notes into it while she talked. "We did find some abnormal brain activity however. There were odd beta waves, and a spike in REM. Usually that's indicative of intense dreaming. Do you remember any of it?"

"There was…. Death, destruction. A choir of agonized screams. Despair." Shepard laughed hollowly. "Then came the vision" He tried to remember, and his eyes suddenly lost their ability to focus again. He shook his head. "It's… wrapped around my memories. Synthetics slaughtering people. Worlds burning."

Doctor Chakwas frowned at him, and took another scan, seeming unhappy with the results. "Tell me if you have these dreams again Commander. Given what happened down there, we'll need you in the coming days."

Shepard smiled. "Yes ma'am."

Anderson took that as his cue to step forward. "I need to debrief you, Commander." He stared pointedly and Chief Williams, who saluted.

"Aye aye Captain. I'll be in the mess if you need me." She turned and made her way out of the medbay. Shepard noticed that she moved stiffly, and her eyes seemed lost, like they didn't know where to look. He made a note to check on her when – his vision stopped cooperating for a second, and his head throbbed - When moving wasn't as much of an issue, he decided. Doctor Chakwas gave him one last appraising look before moving into her office behind them. Captain Anderson waited for a second, then

"I'm not going to lie to you Shepard, It looks bad."

Loose thoughts that had been drifting freely around finally connected in his head. "Where's Nihlus?" He snapped his head up. And regretted it immediately. "Were you able to get a team to-"

"He's dead." The Captain said heavily. "We were able to rescue some of his hardsuit data, though it's nothing that will hold up in a tribunal." Anderson pulled Dr. Chakwas' rolling chair over to the bed Shepard was sitting on and sat down. "Which is what you'll be facing once we arrive at the Citadel. There's a SpecTRe dead and the named suspect is Saren Arterius, one of, if not the most famous of the SpecTRes - and Nihlus' mentor." Anderson took a deep breath. "It doesn't help that, under council law, I am required to represent you as your CO. And since I have a past with Saren, I'm suspect too."

Shepard sighed and rubbed his eyes. Time to put that training in Galactic law that Nihlus drilled into his head. "Alright sir. Here's everything as I remember it…"

* * *

When Shepard had finished, Anderson traded a few words of comfort for Jenkins, for whom he'd put in an application for the Legion of Honor, the second most prestigious award the Alliance had. Then Anderson put all the facts on the table, so that Shepard could assemble a coherent case with what he knew from his SpecTRe training. They then consulted at JAG who specialized in galactic law via comm buoy, before they went through the relay into the Serpent Nebula. The JAG made a few alterations to their case, telling them not to rely too much on the fact that Shepard was a serious candidate for SpecTRe training – He didn't actually have all the requisite powers that came with the office.

By the time they'd sorted their defense, Shepard was much better, and he went up to the bow, where he found Alenko, Williams, and Joker all bantering and watching the relay approach. Their jokes had a curious dampened quality to them – grief making itself known.

Their trajectory put them on a course parallel with the Relay. It shone stark difference to the vacuum around it, a brilliant blue reflected down the curiously matte metal of the relay, adjusting trajectory as the Normandy entered the mass corridor that it reactively projected as the  _Normandy_  came close. The conversation instinctively died as they went through the relay. Kaidan and Shepard's nerves tingled, the feel of so much eezo activating making their nerves sing in time. The vortex of whirling blue spun and danced, and all too soon, they rocketed back into real space, the glistening cloud of the Serpent Nebula throwing eerie shadows on the massive white space station that hung in the midst of it, its four arms – wards, opened like some alien flower, glinting with tiny sparkling lights as its denizens lived their lives.

"It's beautiful." Williams said, voicing what all of them were thinking.

 

* * *

 

They passed the Destiny Ascension, the massive ship unique among the Asari dreadnoughts for its sheer size and power. Moving underneath its enormous shadow, they requested a berth, and made their way through the protocol of acquiring a docking bay at the heart of Galactic commerce and military might.

The group was laughing at Jokers back and forth with the call towers when the Captain paged them over the intercom, telling them to wear their dress blues and pack their hardsuits and requisite data. Kaidan and Ashley gave Shepard a look, who nodded, steeling himself internally, remembering his lessons.  _Live. The. Lie_. Command wasn't so different.

There was an unexpectedly large group of people waiting to meet them as they stepped off the ship. Camera drones began filming, light shining directly into the eyes of Shepard and his squad. Shepard groaned. It was almost as bad as after Elysium. Thinking quickly, he drew up into a full salute, and was slightly surprised when Kaidan and Ashley, and then Anderson did as well. Uncertain applause broke out at first, then solidified, gaining traction as they stood rigid. It crescendoed into a full roar, all the journalists and gawkers putting down their cameras to clap for the Alliance Marines. Anderson dropped the salute first, automatically moving into parade positions. He swung out and around, in the stiff-jointed formal manner, and dismissed them from the ship with full military procession. As he was doing so, a slick black aircar with Atmo privileges pulled into the bay, landing in front of the crowd and the cordon that separated the marines from the journalists. Cries of disappointment went up as a turian in C-Sec armor stepped out and escorted them into the air-car.

"Good thinking, Shepard." Anderson said, as soon as the car's gull-wing doors shut out the noise of the bay.

"You have experience in that sort of thing, Commander?" Ashley asked.

He nodded. "Elysium." Was all he said.

Kaidan gave him a searching look, then nodded. "Besides chief, all that pageantry is for the civilians anyway."

Anderson gave the Lieutenant and the Gunnery Chief shrewd looks before looking out of the aircar window wistfully. "This is going to be bad. The Ambassador never sent a car for me, even when it was me on the chopping block."

Shepard gave the captain a humorless smile. "That was only needless civilian deaths. This was a Geth invasion."

Anderson gave an equally humorless laugh. "You always did have a penchant for nose-diving into trouble."

There was a tense silence in the car as the humans contemplated the coming tribunal.

"Arriving: Presidium Embassies." The VI in the car said smoothly as it touched down outside the entrance to the Embassy offices for all the galactic races, a huge complex of offices and gardens that shone in the Station's mid-afternoon light. The station curved up and around, massive lakes and plants dominating the center of the ring – a gross display of wealth and luxury on a space station. An asari in a formal and austere dress ushered them out of the air-car and up the hall, practically pushing them into the Ambassador's chambers, where they found the balding and apoplectic human engaged in a holo-call with the Council itself.

"This is an outrage! The council would act if the geth had attacked a turian colony!"

"The turians do not establish colonies at the edge of the Terminus systems, Ambassador." The salarian somehow stayed eminently polite while still making the title sound like a curse.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse." The asari councilor, Tevos, Shepard thought her name was, was doing her best to sound conciliatory while cutting off discussion.

"Councilors, the people of Eden Prime were slaughtered. Not by pirates. Not by batarians. Not even by the filth that seeps in from the Terminus. They were slaughtered by  _Geth._  A race of sentient AIs that this council promised the Galaxy was  _contained!_  Then, when we are victimized by  _your_  failure, you refuse to offer so much as a convoy in aid. I demand action! And not for my sake. But so that humanity does not view their relationship with the Citadel as a parasitic one."

"You don't get to make demands of the Council." The turian councilor said, an unyielding edge to his voice.

"And what of Saren?" Udina asked, his face now well and thoroughly flushed. "Are you going to ignore a rogue SpecTRe too?"

"Enough. C-Sec is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss their findings at the hearing. Not before." Tevos gave a reproving look at the human ambassador, who gazed defiantly back up at her. The call finished on that sour note, and the human Ambassador took a long breath before turning to face the Alliance soldiers now behind him.

"Captain Anderson. I see you've brought half your crew with you." He said, walking to his desk.

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had questions." Anderson said, keeping his tone level.

"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?"

Shepard eyed up the disdainful Ambassador, trying to get a read on the man. His training gave him only glimpses – an ardent, career politician, one who found leverage by being intractable, and most probably of the type by which the chief metric was how useful others were to the cause.

"They are. Sounds like you convinced the Council to investigate Saren." Anderson said.

"It lost me their goodwill, which led to that charming conversation you just heard. But yes. They're having C-Sec investigate a SpecTRe." Bitter sarcasm laced his tone as he finished the sentence.

"They seem adept at burying their heads in sand." Shepard offered, still staring at the presidium from the balcony.

"Quite." Udina said tersely. He opened his mouth to say something, when Shepard continued, still in that quiet, distant voice.

"If they don't do something, I will."

There was a half-second's shocked silence before the Ambassador stepped forward, flush beginning to creep into his face again. "Settle down, Commander. You've done more than enough to jeopardize you SpecTRe candidacy already. Your mission to Eden Prime was supposed to show you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus is dead and the beacon destroyed!"

"That's Saren and the Geth's fault, not his!" Anderson stepped forward, anger beginning to carve sharp ridges in his voice.

"Then you'd better hope that this C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our case. Otherwise the council will use this to discredit humanity, and my own efforts, further." With a sigh of disgust, Udina dropped into his chair behind his desk, his eyes now focused on his terminal.

"Stay here Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing."

Anderson turned to his Marines. "Dismissed. Report back for the hearing."

"I'll make sure you have clearance to get in." Udina added, not looking up from his terminal.

Ashley, Kaidan and Shepard all turned, saluted, and then filed out of the spacious office. As the door slid to a close behind them, Ashley muttered,

"and that's why I hate politicians."

"Hey, look at it this way chief: Now we've only got to wait around for 6 hours. Anderson has to deal with the Ambassador up until the trial." Kaidan said.

Ashley did not find this amusing.

"I'm not planning on waiting for justice. Not here." Shepard said, striding off across the Embassy lobbies, carrying the suitcase his hardsuit was in. Finding a private place, he set about changing into his hardsuit. Bewildered, Ashley and Kaidan followed suit.

"Hey Commander. Why is your sabre not up to regs?" Williams asked, as Shepard smoothly placed his folded dress uniform and gear into the case that had held his hardsuit.

Shepard snorted. "Because I was foolish enough to go into battle still in my dress blues. The civvies thought it was heroic and the brass are punishing me for that special sort of stupidity by making me an exemption to the standard uniform." He unbuckled the scabbard from the baldric, and threw the whole thing to Ashley, who looked surprised, but caught it. It was a standard dress sabre, leather wrapped hilt and gold colored handguard. But this one looked like it had been through hell and back. Parts of the knuckle guard had been torn off by some unknown force, and all the gold sheen of the guard was completely pitted and stained, bits of the dull grey metal beneath showing through. The leather wrap was worn and sweat-stained, the fabric cushion underneath poking through in places. Curious, she drew the blade. It came out smoothly. Quickly too, as the blade was broken off about halfway up. She shook the scabbard. It rattled.

"You used that on Elysium?" Kaidan asked too casually.

"Yes." Shepard said. "I had that and an old sidearm the Embassy happened to have."

"So you made the best of a bad situation." Ashley said.

"Yes. Come on." Seeing his squad had suited and geared up, he took the sabre back from Chief Williams, closed his case, dropped it off at the Embassy lockers, and took off across the lake.

"Where are we headed?" Ashley asked.

"To someone who will know something about Saren."

The humans crossed the elegant bridge, dodging the upper-class foot traffic that wandered by, all of whom looked askance at the fully armored marines toting weapons. Shepard strode on, undeterred. He made his way across the lakes, and headed toward the financial districts. He moved past the sprawling open-air market, where only the most expensive merchants hawked their goods, and into the banking district. Tall, willowy buildings competed for elegance and luxury, each with advertising that claimed to be the most secure in the most locations. Shepard did not heed them, moving through the concentrated grandiosity with unconscious ease. Ashely and Kaidan, having never been on the Citadel before, were still drinking in the sights more than they would have admitted.

They rounded the final corner, making their way to a small building that was richly appointed but dwarfed by the fantastic architecture around. There was a small placard on the door that read

" _Barla Von, Financial Advisor"_

Shepard knocked three times on the door. The placard slid to one side and a biometric scanner noted and observed Shepard briefly, then closed. A VI's voice said,

"Do you vouch for your guests?"

"Yes." Shepard said simply.

And the door slid open.

Shepard strode confidently in, taking his helmet off as he did so. The interior, like the exterior, was richly appointed, with dark marble flooring and large, comfortable armchairs designed for all races lining the antechamber.

"I might have business with you, (shrk) Shepard." A volus said over the intercom. Curiously the sound of his respirator was muted, less harsh than other volus'. "But I do not know (shrk) these others."

"They were on Eden Prime. They have my full trust, and I vouch for them."

Behind her helmet, Ashley glanced at the Commander, pleasant surprise on her face.

"Plus you might get to interview them before the Council."

There was a pause. "Might?"

"You have some information I need. Thought that might be a good trade." Shepard said nonchalantly.

Instead of responding, the hard-light panel on the door flicked green, and opened.

The office was spacious, and had a large window on one side, and a impressionistic painting showing the subtle greens and browns of Irune on the other. Shepard strode ahead confidently, and casually threw himself into the chair opposite the diminutive volus.

"As it so happens, I have some information for free. (shrk) My employer has a loose end he wants dealt with."

"And he suggested me for the job?" Shepard asked. He feigned humility.

"He suggested (shrk) you might have a mutual interest in seeing it tied up. There are already assets in place."

"And what would I need for premium service?" Shepard said, gesturing towards himself and Ashley and Kaidan.

"That (shrk) depends on what you're trading."

"An interview with me, any questions about Eden Prime. And my squad, if they're willing." It was a calculated gamble on Shepard's part. Given that they were going to publicly testify before the highest body in Council space, it wouldn't be breaking classified information to non-alliance sources.

Well, it might be  _bending_  classification protocols.

"(shrk) and in return?" Barla Von asked.

"I want everything you have on Saren."

The volus let out a little chuckle. "I don't think (Shrk) that will be quite enough for  _everything_ , but I will pass the communication on, (shrk) and see what my employer is willing to trade."

"I'm willing." Kaidan said. Everyone looked at him. Shepard noted with approval that he must have followed the same logic. The LT took his helmet off. "I'm willing to be interviewed, if it means some more information on Saren and that ship of his."

Ashley nodded slowly, coming to terms with the idea. "Count me in, Commander."

"Very well. (shrk) I will contact my employer and approve the trade." Barla Von didn't move. "Please wait in the antechamber."

Shepard nodded, and stood up, leading the humans out of the inner office.

"Commander. Is his employer who I think he is?" Kaidan asked as they exited.

"Barla Von is independent." Shepard said, straight faced, and nodding.

"What am I missing here?" Ashely asked. "Why does he deal in information if he's a financial broker?"

"Brokers live and die off of information, Williams." Shepard said. "Barla Von is just better than most."

"His employer is the Shadow Broker." Kaidan whispered to her.

Her eyes went wide. "I thought he was just a myth!"

"Who says he isn't?" Shepard said quietly.

"And you're buying information –"

"The Council isn't doing anything. So I am." Shepard said, in that same calm and dangerous voice from Udina's office.

"But-"

Shepard held up a hand. "I'll explain everything later."

The door chimed, signaling they were allowed to go in. Barla Von hadn't moved, though now he had his fingers steepled contemplatively.

"My employer, (shrk) approved your trade. Apparently Saren has made an enemy of himself."

"That is the act of a foolish or desperate man." Shepard said, plopping his helmet down on the desk.

"Yes." Was all Barla Von said. He activated his omni-tool, sending Shepard the relevant files.

"As for our mutual arrangement, (shrk) there are two people you need to get in contact with." Barla Von pulled up a screen on his terminal, and projected the image in front of him. "This is Urdnot Wrex. (shrk) He has been sent to eliminate another loose end: Halward Fist." Another image popped up, this one of a brutish looking human.

"Why do we need to help him? "

"Fist acted as a go between for a quarian and my employer. (Shrk) This quarian had some compromising data on Saren she offered to my employer. (Shrk) It seems Saren was more compelling to him."

"He doesn't seem that bright." Shepard agreed.

"Wrex is currently being interrogated by C-Sec." the volus breathed, then minimized the images, pulling up a file on a turian with blue colony markings.

"This is Officer Garrus Vakarian. (Shrk) I'll forward you his career notes." Shepard nodded. As a C-Sec officer, those would be matters of public record anyway.

"He (Shrk) has been put in charge of the investigation (Shrk) of Saren."

"So we need to have him as witness to whatever information we dig up, while handling Fist."

"Yes. (shrk) The quarian has the information you seek. She has not released it. (Shrk)"

Shepard tilted his head. It seemed the quarian had wisdom beyond her years.

They completed their interviews quickly, separately, and without formalities. Barla Von recorded their responses with some hardware he had in his office. The questions were direct, and they answered frankly. Barla Von thanked them, and told Shepard that his employer would remember this. The commander almost believed that the volus was giving him a significant look, and wondered what the broker knew of his now jeopardized promotion. The pressure suit masked any of the more revealing details, however. Shepard gave him a nod, and they exited the building quickly.

"That was shady, Commander." The Gunnery Chief said, confronting him as they lost eyesight of the volus' office.

Shepard nodded. "I know. I wouldn't have done it if I had thought there was another way. But, the information we gave him we've already passed to the Alliance and the Council. The thing we were really selling was time for his network to react before the public at large became fully aware." Shepard grimaced. "In return, we get time to get a head-start on Saren.

"Time for time." Alenko murmured, nodding. He looked to the Commander. "So who to first? The Turian or the Krogan?"

Shepard thought for moment, and decided they should go see what C-Sec had unearthed on Saren.

* * *

They dropped by C-Sec HQ, and asked around about the investigation into Saren. The Executor gave them cold looks, and referred them to one Garrus Vakarian, who apparently had a reputation for being more stubborn than most turians. Ashley decided she would like this new officer, as the Executor made several not-quite-hostile comments about humans.  
Shepard somehow managed to maintain an unfailingly polite façade throughout the conversation. When asked about it later, all he grunted was "Practice."

As they were leaving C-Sec to find a certain clinic on the lower wards, the humans dodge around a knot of C-Sec officers confronting an old, battle-scarred krogan. Shepard stopped as the krogan glanced up at him – undoubtedly marking them as hardened targets. The turian C-Sec officers wore their own armor-plated and lightly-shielded BDUs, but only the Alliance marines and the krogan had combat-grade hardsuits on. Shepard knew instinctively that this was the Shadow Broker's man, but Kaidan pulled up Barla Von's files to make sure. He nodded to Shepard, and they stopped, and waited at the edge of the knot.

"I want you to  _try._ " The krogan growled to the human C-Sec officer that was staring him down. There was a brief battle of wills, and the tired officer decided that he wasn't paid near enough to go mano-a-mano with the scarred and dangerous looking krogan in front of him.

"We'll be watching, Wrex." He said impotently.

"You do that." The battlemaster said, an amused gleam in his eye.

The C-Sec officers muttered and wisely wandered off to attend to their less-dangerous duties.

"Urdnot Wrex?" Shepard asked, striding up to the krogan as the officers left. The krogan grunted his affirmation.

"I hear you have some questions for the proprietor of Chora's Den."

Wrex stared at him balefully.

"Your employer gave us your name. We have some questions of our own. We're going to find the C-Sec officer who might also want to pose his own set of questions." Shepard motioned. "Come with us, and we'll watch your back."

"Why should I wait?" the krogan asked mulishly.

"Because if things get ugly, I want a C-Sec officer on our side of the firefight. That way we don't have to fight them, too."

"Not interested in a little challenge?" Wrex asked, prodding.

Shepard grunted, and smiled wryly. "Nah, I just don't have the option to outlive my arrest warrant."

The krogan chuckled, and assented to join their hunt.

* * *

The clinic was a mess. 4 dead men lay in the house of healing. They were thugs, really, sent to keep the good doctor quiet. Which meant they were getting close. They got a better descriptor of the quarian as well – she had  _geth_  data that could incriminate Saren, wore a purple veil, and was on her pilgrimage. She'd been hunted for days, and had taken a sniper shot to the arm on the presidium.  
Shepard grimly thought that alone should've revealed Saren's hand – very few criminal organizations had the outright power to shoot someone on the Citadel's presidium.

But they left the detective work for later, and sprinted towards Chora's Den. The quarian, (who hadn't given her name to Dr. Michel) had already been shot once. If her intel was as hot as it seemed, Shepard didn't like her odds of making it through the day, alone, with no backup, stuck in a crossfire between the shadow broker and a rogue Council SpecTRe.

They slowed as they approached the seedy back-alley that Chora's den was situated in. There was a krogan bouncer, and Shepard didn't want to start a firefight with unarmed civvies in the middle. Garrus laughed at that, and said bitterly that the bigger danger was involving representatives from other organized crime into the fight.

While they were arguing, Ashley sized up the krogan and bare-faced turian guarding the entrance to the club, rolled her shoulders, took off her helmet, and walked up to the bouncers.

"Uh, Commander?" Kaidan said, watching as Ashley gave the bouncers an imposing look to match their leers. She was let in. 

Wrex gave a bark of laughter, and strode after the impetuous human.   
Garrus looked at Shepard reprovingly, and Shepard scowled and motioned for them to approach the entrance.   
  
He'd just have to improvise.   
Like he'd been doing since Elysium. He sighed.

"She can go in." The turian said motioning Ashley on, but held out his hand (his other on his side-arm) "but you look like a battle squad.

Wrex found that funny for some reason.

Shepard stepped forward, and stared the turian down. "I have a meeting with my counterparts in 5 minutes." He said testily, letting a lethal edge undercut his words. "I'm not stupid enough to stroll in here without back-up."

"Fist is neutral." The turian said, his eyes giving the impression he was wary, but only wary as one confronted with a stray dog.

"Listen, bare-face." Garrus said, leaning in close to the turian. "You see this uniform? I can't afford to be seen arguing with some bouncer to let a known gang member in. You want the cash to keep flowing nice and quiet, don't you?"

The bouncer looked uncertain, and glanced at his krogan buddy. The krogan was busy staring down Wrex, who had not moved, but appeared to be winning.

"There's a lot more where I come from. Not all of them are so congenial." Garrus said.

The bouncer came to a decision, and let them in.

"No trouble now, you hear?" He said lamely. They didn't bother replying.

* * *

 

The interior of Chora's Den was dim, with flashing, colored LEDs whose cheer never seemed to reach the floor. The place reeked of desperation, and Shepard glanced with dismay at the asari dancers. They were young, and the tired and worn-ragged look about them was only mostly hidden by the poor lighting. Shepard's education on Thessia had impressed upon him the dangers, loneliness and emptiness of the path that drew far too many Asari youth, but they had remained only dire warnings from the matriarchs.

"A million light years from where humanity began and we walk into a bar filled with men drooling over half-naked women shaking their asses on a stage. I can't decide if that's funny or sad." Ashley said as the rest of their eyes adjusted to the flashing lights.

"It's sad." Shepard said quietly, and made his way to the back rooms, where Fist was said to be. He was about to stop and attempt to talk his way into the back as he'd done before, but Wrex kept going, blowing past the two human guards who nervously pointed their weapons at him. Shepard followed, and as they turned to confront this new, more manageable sized threat, he waved his arm, sending out a weak biotic pulse that knocked them face first into the ground.

"Stay down." Ashley growled at the guards as they marched by, unshipping their weapons for further confrontations.   
  
Fist didn't command much loyalty it seemed. They stayed down.

The battle with Fist was over almost before it began. He yelped, put up turrets that were promptly blown through by the hightly armed and trained alliance marines, a crack turian police officer, and a krogan battlemaster. The spacious office hardly provided suitable cover, as well.  

"Wait! Wait! Don't kill me I surrender!"

The 'crime lord' tried to lie to them once, afterward. Only once though. He told them where he'd sent the quarian, and then Wrex shot him, right in front of them. All of them suppressed a cry, and Shepard and Garrus stepped up to give a lecture on war crimes and not shooting unarmed prisoners. Wrex simply stared at them, and said two sentences that indicated his stance and his unwillingness to hear more of the matter.

"No one betrays the Broker twice. And I gave my word I would kill him."

Frustrated, but unable to do anything and out of time, Shepard copied the hard drive on the laughably insecure computer, and their rag-tag squad raced of the club, through confused drunks and low-lives, headed towards a naïve quarian who thought she was going to meet the Shadow Broker himself. Or herself.

* * *

 

They arrive just as three sniper-dots paint the quarian's chest.

Time seemed to slow for Shepard in that alleyway, and he recalled with an odd quiet that Nihlus had trained him on just such a situation, protecting a vital witness or source from imminent attack. Shepard didn't think, but  _thrust_  himself forward, biotically, enveloping himself in a blue shield and bubble, arriving in front of purple-veiled quarian. He stopped, his hands out, and there came three quick shots, the first two shattered his instinctive barrier, the third hitting his shields and sending him back a step.

But as he took the bullets, the quarian was already moving, diving and throwing three tech mines at the hard-suited salarians and turians approaching with assault rifles. Overkill for a young quarian, Shepard thought. The mines sparked and shattered, taking down the shields and HUD of the assassins. Shepard moved, and felt the quarian barrel into him as the turian raised his rifle his way. They went down, and Shepard's team opened fire. The wetworks team on the ground went down in the withering hail of bullets. Shepard peeked upward, looking for the sniper, but his mutant nerves tingled, and he saw from the corner of his eye Wrex's blue-limned glow. There were three hard crunches, and the snipers were no more.

Shepard looked at the quarian lying on his chest.

" _Thanks_ " they both said simultaneously. Shepard laughed, then held out his hand. Not a straightforward process when they were both laying down, but they made it work. The quarian took his hand, and shifted, helping him up.

"I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Marines. I hear you have some data that might help us in our investigation?"

The quarian finishes the handshake, after prompting from what seemed to be a program in her suit. Her grip was surprisingly firm.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." She gives him a tired look and sat on one of the half-rotted crates, ignoring the blue blood pooling around the dead turian 10 feet away. Now that he was closer, Shepard could see the spot on her shoulder that had been patched recently. A bullet hole.

Tali sighed. "If it would help repay you for saving my life, of course." She shook her head. "I can't share it with you here, though." She looked around, as if seeing the heavily armed multi-species firing team behind Shepard, and the bodies of the dead beside her. Shepard saw here eyes widen beneath the suit, and knew she had to be feeling the shock of her first kill.

"You should come with us. I know somewhere safe."

"I can handle myself." She said, but looked uncertain, and spoke through the hollow resonance of that post battle-fatigue.

"Hey, Tali, is it?" Ashley said, stepping forward, and pulling off her helmet.

Tali nodded.

"We're going to take you to the embassy, where you can share the data. If you want to part ways with us, or go to the Quarian Observer's office, you can." Ashley said gently.

Tali nodded again, took a deep, shuddering breath, and put her head in her hands. "Do you always get punished this much for trying to do the right thing?" She asked.

Shepard laughed, a bitter edge to it. "Just about. Come on, lets get out of this alleyway." He extended a hand, and helped Tali up from the crate.

As they were leaving the dank alleyway (Garrus assured them that C-Sec would be by to ID the bodies and then dispose of them) Shepard turned to Wrex.

"Thanks for helping us out. You didn't need to come with us after Chora's Den."

Shepard thought he saw a dim, peculiar flicker of emotion as Wrex looked briefly from him to Tali.

"Someone had to take care of the wetwork team while you were rolling about like hatchlings." He said dryly.

Shepard pasted a look of innocent surprise on his face.

"You mean they didn't all commit suicide from having to look at your face?"

There was a split second's tense silence, as Tali, Ashley, and Garrus looked between the human and the krogan, horrified. Then Wrex's craggy face split into a razor-toothed grin, and he laughed his long, low laugh.

"Heh heh heh. You got a quad, human."

* * *

Ambassador Udina wasn't thrilled at their return. The vein on his temple visibly throbbed, as he began a laundry list of how Shepard's actions disturbed peace and order, and left a diplomatic mess for him to clean up besides. Shepard snapped to attention, and waited the words out. He knew better than to reply, and he'd long ago (in part thanks to his asari upbringing) honed the subtle games of diplomacy and social back-and-forth. Asari teenagers could be particularly nasty, and he'd had to learn quickly. Shepard suppressed a shudder from the memory of those years.

When the ambassador had finished his lecture, Shepard presented Tali'Zorah, and she laid out their evidence. The quarian had managed to save an impressive amount of information from the geth whose memory core she had stolen. Shepard considered her. It had been brave to head straight to the rumors of geth when they would have been the boogeymen of their people for a generation. She was extremely resourceful, had managed to evade geth patrols, surveillance, and the hit squad of a well-connected and vengeful council SpecTRe, and now she calmly explained the information she'd captured to a hasty, irate, and powerful human.   
  
Shepard admitted he was impressed.

Two mysteries remained though – one was the powerful asari matriarch that also showed up in the databanks, and the second was the incessant mention of 'reapers', and the search for this 'conduit'. The idea of a synthetic race having developed a religious worship of older and greater synthetics was curious, and Shepard believed was one that anthropologists and philosophers probably couldn't wait to get their hands on.

At the moment, the more pertinent question was one of whether or not this constituted evidence that could get the council to see that their top agent had turned rogue.

Which meant it was time for the lawyers to take over. Only Garrus and Shepard stayed to listen – they would be most concerned with the outcome. Wrex wandered off first, when it became clear there was to be no more firefights. Ashely, Kaidan, and Anderson went next, deciding to report to the Alliance all that had transpired. Tali left then, after she had nearly nodded off in the middle of all of the legal babble, post-battle shock hitting her hard. Soon it was just Udina, the lawyers, and Shepard. By the end of the discussions, Udina had moved into a sort of respect for Shepard. Shepard guessed it had showed that he knew something beyond being a mere grunt, and could play in Udina's realm as well. He smiled slightly at the thought. Alliance Intelligence had more than prepared him for complicated diplomatic and legal cases. That such had comprised far less of his career than he'd expected was the true surprise.

Their case wasn't airtight, but would be more than sufficient to start a council probe into the conduct of Saren. After they went over the details, Udina nodded to Garrus and Shepard, and told them to await a summons from the council to discuss the matter in some hours. Shepard nodded, thinking it would be good to get some R&R before being presented to the Council. Giving his testimony about the massacre on Eden Prime and accusing the most powerful SpecTRe in the galaxy in one go was something he needed to be sharp for.

* * *

Or at least, that was what Shepard thought he would be doing. Instead he had found himself drawn into all sorts of requests for help. Something about his alliance uniform made people think that's what he was there for. It was an assumption he had used to his benefit before, but after scanning keepers, helping a journalist break a story using Fist's files, diplomatically urging an exuberant hanar to keep from preaching by the embassies, and destroying an accidentally created AI, he wasn't sure he would play into the impression any longer. By the time he'd received the call, he had to rush to change into his dress blues – chipped and broken saber and all.

When he arrived (on time, which, in the military, was late) they were ushered into the huge council audience chamber. The three representatives of Galactic law stood on the high dais of the opulent and verdant chamber, while a large hologram of Saren, painted in uniform blue, was projected on a stand between the Council and the audience platform. Councilor Udina already stood atop the stand, with one of the lawyers. Captain Anderson, Chief Williams, and Lieutenant Alenko represented the Alliance contingent, while Tali'Zorah stood by to give her evidence. Garrus Vakarian stood by to represent the official C-sec investigation.

Yet, despite the grandeur of the surroundings, the sheer power that was vested in the three beings on the highest dais, and the anxiety of the case the humans would need to lay out, Saren drew the eyes in the room. The large turian had an undeniable charisma. A certain purity of purpose and strength of resolve that was reflected in the way he stood. But he had wires running from his shoulder into a biomechanical arm, servomotors flexing and pushing as the SpecTRe fidgeted with the new appendage. His eyes, small and hard like all turian eyes, had hourglass pupils, and they seemed to be focusing through a fog.

"Saren. You look terrible." Sparatus said, surprised.

Saren grimaced. "I was forced to use some experimental technology rather sooner than I had hoped. I am fit to perform my duties to the galaxy, and the Council." The hologram turned to the dais.

"Now, is this the human who accuses me?"

Shepard stared up into the strange eyes of the Council SpecTRe. "The citizens of Eden Prime, torn apart by geth soldiers, accuse you. The council SpecTRe Nihlus Kryik's dead body accuses you. Since they are unable to be here today, yes, I accuse you." He stared defiantly at the figure of the turian SpecTRe, who did not react, but Shepard surmised that he did not expect such an impassioned defense.

"Nihlus was a friend, and I was in the Traverse tracking terminus slavers at the time of this invasion." Saren said coldly.

"We have read the reports, and the testimony of one traumatized dock-worker is hardly air-tight." The salarian councilor, Valern said.

"I object!" Udina said, his face flushing with anger again. "You should not pass judgement on until all evidence is heard!"

"You have more evidence to present than those found in the report?" Tevos said, offering a conciliatory arm, while simultaneously conveying her doubt at the trustworthiness of such evidence.

That was when the lawyers stepped in. At which point Saren made a disgusted sound, and protested his innocence once more before coldly closing off the broadcast. Apparently he didn't share Nihlus' insistence that those with permission to act above the law had the imperative to know it well.

* * *

 

The entirety of the case took the better part of an hour to present, the Alliance lawyers periodically calling up their witnesses to present their findings, explaining the important elements of the invasion of Eden Prime with graphs, charts, and access to alliance-classified material. The data on Nihlus' hardsuit was presented. The majority of it was garbled, save for the curious exception of the audio of a haunting poem about spectres.

The counselors all seemed skeptical of the entire thing. They had a difficult time believing that the geth incursion was a dangerous enough threat to send citadel fleets to protect the Traverse. Their questions clearly showed their skepticism. Shepard felt the frustration of the humans beginning to build as the Council refused to see what was in front of them. 

But there came a curious tension in the room as Tali was called to the stand. As she sent the councilors all the data, and went through the important bits – the focus on the Reapers, the calling of Saren a prophet, the conversation with Benezia, and the hunt for this 'conduit'.

There was a long silence after their lawyers added what was left of their case. Then Sparatus pushed a button, and barrier raised up in front of the councilors while they debated among themselves. Things got heated, as Sparatus shook his head and motioned aggressively at Tevos and Valern. Valern crossed his arms, and shook his head. Tevos said something, and the tension seemed to drop. There was a couple minutes more of quiet discussion, and then the barrier dropped, and the Councilors returned to their podiums. They entered something into the consoles stationed there, and Tevos said, with an edge of sadness,

"In light of the evidence and reasonable doubts presented to the council, we hereby strip Saren Arterius of his rank as Chief SpecTRe and declare him a wanted man in all Council systems. A bounty will be placed upon his head, and an investigation will be launched by a Special Prosecutor to determine to what extent Saren's actions have destabilized Council space, and to find and eliminate all of his allies within the Galactic government.

"That's not good enough!" Udina nearly shouted. "What of our colonies? Send out your fleets!"

"We cannot risk war with the terminus systems, Ambassador." Valern said coldly to the irate human. "Nor is a fleet any more effective at flushing out one man."

Shepard flinched, as he felt a surging flash of pain in his head. Images of the slaughter – both from his own memories and the incredible devastation of the beacon-dreams – flashed behind his eyes, ending with Saren's hourglass eyes glaring at him mercilessly. This was important.

He stepped forward, lowering his hand, clutched instinctively at his face. "Councilors. We have yet to discuss the matter of my SpecTRe candidacy."

"Yes." Sparatus said bluntly.

"Nihlus seemed impressed with your progress and dedication to the task." Valern added.

"But we need to know we can trust you with the powers that the office brings." Tevos said kindly.

"And removing your boss as your first act does not inspire confidence in your loyalty to the institution." Sparatus said bitterly. Saren's treachery had hit him hardest, it seemed.

"Send me after him." Shepard said simply.

Shepard watched as the Councilors considered this. His chase would remove Shepard from the public eye, taking him to far-flung planets. The need to chase down a turian with half a century of combat and espionage experience meant it would remove him from the public eye, where he was popular – both from his defense of Elysium, and from his role in this newest catastrophe. After the 'trial period', they could install him to more publicly perform his role. He saw Tevos give the subtlest of indications that she liked the idea, then saw her look to Sparatus and Valern, who nodded in turn.

"That would allow some closure on this case while giving time to sort out the geth incursions. Very well. If we are all decided?" She said, looking again to her fellow councilors. They nodded in return, then entered something onto their consoles. When they were done, Shepard felt a vibration as his omni-tool received something, and then the Councilors began the SpecTRe ceremony.

"This is a great honor, you are the first of your kind to be granted the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance group…"

* * *

 

It was several days later, while the Alliance was still punting about the question of how to equip their new human SpecTRe, what role he would play with the Alliance, and what role with the Council, where he would get a ship, etc etc, that Shepard received a summons to an office on Kithoi Ward.   
A mentor, it had said. His training, it seemed, would continue. The Council assigned him to a SpecTRe who had just returned to the citadel: one Jondam Bau.

Presenting himself at the nondescript office, he found the door open, and a salarian in yellow and black armor there waiting behind a desk. The chair had been pushed to one side, while the salarian made his motions with the interface.

Shepard saluted and introduced himself. The salarian just stared at him, his big black eyes giving away nothing. His yellow and black armor gleamed in the artificial lighting.

"Commander Shepard. You made the N7 designation, successfully completed numerous Alliance special operation missions. But before that you were Alliance Intelligence?"  
  
Shepard stood silent for a second, deciding whether he had an obligation to deny it.

"No need to deny it, Commander. I never spent any time in the Special Tasks Group, either." Bau tilted his head upward, a salarian sign of respect, and a wry look in his eyes. Shepard mirrored the motion, relieved. Bau motioned to Shepard, and started off down the hallway.

"You'll be receiving truncated training. The Council will rely on your former intelligence training to ah, fill in the gaps." the human idiom only slowed the salarian down a fraction. Shepard abruptly realized the salarian wasn't using a translator, but speaking entirely in English.

"What will we be covering?" he asked.

"Forensics, basics of most sciences and engineering, weapons manufacture. et cetera." Bau paused. "The majority will be done in reading, while hunting for Saren." Bau nodded and began his swift march again. "I will teach you the practical aspects here." Shepard swore he saw the ghost of a smile on the salarian's face. "Keep up."

* * *

 

Jondam Bau was true to his word, the curriculum was both exhaustive and exhausting. On top of the replays of his life playing as he slept, there was a truly tremendous amount of reading to keep up with. Due to both his biotic metabolism and the beacon's disruptive effect, Chakwas was practically shoving food into his mouth during his nights on the Normandy. The rest of the crew took the time as an unexpected shore leave, while their captain was in talks with Udina and their XO was off studying to become a council SpecTRe.

Surprisingly, Garrus, Tali and Wrex all kept up with Shepard. Garrus via passing information that his own investigation had uncovered on Saren; Wrex by dropping by Udina's office and looking menacing, then leaving. Truthfully, he kept this up even after he learned better ways to contact Shepard. The councilor was just too easy to bait. Tali was working with the Council team on unlocking the key to the geth data encryption protocols, drawn from her experience with the data core she had captured. Shepard made time for each of them, keeping with his intelligence training - they might be useful contacts later on. He didn't know where he would end up, nor how much time he would have to maintain these relationships in the coming days, but they had all helped him in their own ways, so he would make sure he could be in a position to do the same.

Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams kept up with him as well. They kept inviting him out drinking with the crew, or would stop by while he was studying to say hi. Shepard was touched by the actions. He had had few enough friends growing up. The bond between them had started military, but had grown to an easy comradeship that stabilized Shepard amidst all the upheaval. He resolved to put in a transfer request for the both of them on whatever ship that the Alliance saw fit to put him on, once they sorted out how they were planning to equip him.

A week sped by, and one evening, Shepard received orders from Ambassador Udina to meet him at the berth where the  _Normandy_  was docked the next morning.

Anticipation gripped Shepard's insides. At last, it was beginning.


End file.
